The WhIP Journal
August 2004 Power Your Practice – THE WhIP JOURNAL [What Helps In Practice]
This is an Opt-In, No-Fee monthly ezine/newsletter from Debra Dowdell. You are receiving this because you have subscribed to it. As always you may easily unsubscribe or update your email address, using the link at the bottom.
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In This Issue:
STORYTELLING – Why You Should Tell Your Corporate Story
JOIN MY SEMINAR SEPTEMBER 23rd or 28th – “An Accountant’s Story”
THAT IS SUCH A GOOD THOUGHT…
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STORYTELLING – Why You Should Learn To Tell Your Corporate Story
Is there anyone who hasn’t heard the story about FedEx and Fred Smith who followed his dream even after a professor gave him a C grade on his business plan, telling him it wouldn’t work? What about Mary Kay Inc? Everyone knows about Mary Kay Ash who built a magnificent empire by selling products to women, for women, and by women and then rewarded the highest sales with prestige and a pink Cadillac. After all these years, people like us who have never worked for FedEx or Mary Kay all know and remember their stories. Why? Because they told their stories over and over again, and then others shared the stories and so on and so on.
Stories have a great impact on people. They provide a way to deeply connect with your staff, your clients, your community, and your potential marketplace. We need stronger connections today, perhaps more than ever before. In this age of technology, mobility, instant messaging and email communication we are an isolated and lonely people. Though we may be able to ‘communicate’ with associates or loved ones instantly from a downtown traffic jam or while in the jungles of Borneo, we are more alone in this world than ever. Face-to-face interactions are less common or not ‘necessary’. Even family dinners are often not possible in our busy, scheduled lives. We’ve lost the sense of rituals and traditions in many ways. People are in deep need of purpose and belonging to something bigger than themselves.
Corporate storytelling is a powerful tool.
We need to learn how to harness its power and energy.
Have you ever attended or presented a meeting where a litany of numbers and facts were spewed out and it became obvious the audience was losing its ability maintain interest (or perhaps even stay awake)? However, if you introduce a ‘story’ an amazing thing happens in the room. The interest of the audience is now piqued. You now have fellow human beings able to identify with your message and listening to your every word. They can relate.
These are some obvious and tangible ways you can benefit from storytelling:
Internal Branding:
Recruiting:
Storytelling is a very important tool in recruiting staff who will fit into your corporate culture. You should develop a procedure that allows for potential employees to meet and talk with current staff who can tell your corporate story. The potential recruit will be pleased with the opportunity to talk candidly with a current staff member and will also have a better picture of who and what your firm is about.
Think about it: Many organizations that teach or report information or facts will use a “Case Study” model to help make their point. Using a ‘story’, will help your audience invest in the story and make a lasting impression.
Staff Retention:
Personal and corporate stories make a team unit more like a family. There is a camaraderie and deep loyalty between staff members who share stories. People are more willing to invest in each other when they know each others stories. They work together better, work together more willingly, and serve your clients more effectively.
Reward and Recognition:
Your staff will be honoured to be the topic of the latest story you tell about a success they’ve just had. Perhaps you write these down and hang them in frames for all to see or maybe include them in the firm newsletter. Maybe you include them in your policies and procedures manuals as ‘what to do right” at ABC Firm.
Informal Learning:
Three research projects have found that storytelling is the bedrock of informal learning. A six-year study conducted by The Center for Workforce Development examined the question, “Where does essential learning happen in the workplace?” An ambitious and comprehensive undertaking, the project partnered major corporations such as Boeing, Data Instruments, Motorola, and
Siemens with their counterpart state agencies relating to corporate employment. The researchers found that up to 70% of the new skills, information and competence in the workplace is acquired through informal learning.
In another study Seely Brown describes the research of an anthropologist studying a service organization. The researcher found that essential job skill knowledge was transmitted informally among technical representatives around the coffee pot and during lunch through storytelling rather than in the training classroom.
Stories help build trust, raise hidden issues, and help share knowledge about a company’s management and leadership.
External Branding:
Marketing:
Corporate storytelling will provide marketing and branding by virtue of its very format. Storytelling is an effective marketing tool because people ‘listen’ more to stories; you can give more information in a story than in a traditional advertisement; you can reach a wide audience over time because the storytelling-torch can be passed on; and it’s personalized and customized to no other firm except yours, just as your ‘branding’ should be.
Think about it: Charitable organizations know you may be hard pressed to give money when they simply say “this is who we are and this is what we do”. However, when you hear or read the story about a real person who is suffering and needs your help and what your gift can mean to that person, you are much more likely to act on it.
Clients:
Corporate storytelling is a fabulous resource to maintain loyalty with your existing clients, so they can feel connected to you on a deeper level and to encourage new prospects to choose your firm. Remember that people want to be part of a bigger picture. People look for stories to relate to. You have a corporate story to tell. All firms do. You just may not know what it is yet.
Some companies have buildings that help tell their stories:
-3M’s Innovation Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota
-Corning’s Museum of Glass in Corning, New York
(Corning understands that the attraction of storytelling is so compelling that they offer a free storytelling session every Wednesday morning during July and August.)
-Bata’s Shoe Museum in Toronto, Ontario
-NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
-Museum on the Mound, Bank of Scotland
Hearts and Minds:
A corporate storyteller is like the conductor of an orchestra. You can masterfully conduct the story so that each member of the orchestra will play the same notes but each with their own instruments and together play a beautiful song.
Corporate storytelling is a powerful tool to build stronger connections, provide effective and low-cost marketing and branding, provide informal training, and build a strong foundation for your firm.
Please Join Me: “AN ACCOUNTANT’S STORY” Seminar
IN PERSON:
Thursday September 23rd at 10:00 am-12:00pm.
Burlington Convention Centre. Continental breakfast will be available from 9:30am.
~OR~
BY TELECONFERENCE:
Tuesday September 28th at 10:00am-12:00pm.
Phone number and access code will be provided on confirmed registration.
Our topics will cover:
-Why tell corporate stories
-Storytelling as a branding tool
-What makes a good story
-How to measure the benefits of storytelling
-How to find your own corporate story
Cost ( in person or teleconference):
$ 75.00 plus GST OR 2nd individual from same firm: $ 55.00 plus GST
**Space is limited in each event. Please respond by Wednesday, September 10th.
Reply Email: Debra@PowerYourPractice.com or email “Storytelling” in the Subject line. [Note: I will be away from Aug 28th–Sept.1st. and will confirm registration upon my return]
“THAT IS SUCH A GOOD THOUGHT”,
Thoughts worth reading, thinking, repeating and embracing.
“There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.”
—Ursula K. LeGuin
I hope you’ve found value in this month’s copy of THE WhIP JOURNAL.
My best regards to you,
Debra Dowdell
Power Your Practice
For more information, or to share your firm’s story please contact:
This is an Opt-in No-Fee monthly ezine/newsletter from Debra Dowdell. You are receiving this because you have subscribed to it. You may unsubscribe or change your information at any time at Details@PowerYourPractice.com. Your information will never be given away, sold, or rented. Ever. Thank you.
Power Your Practice© 2007
Power Your Practice does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of any statement or other information and materials provided in this newsletter. All articles and other information and materials in this newsletter are provided for general information purposes only.